Second Chance Lucky
by TheSage96
Summary: Hermione Granger has always believed in unity and second chances... conditionally. Now, she is forced to consider that everything she thought she knew about one boy, everything she felt that she understood, might not be how it appears. Dramione, HarryXGinny, LunaXNeville, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**** Hello, out there! So, I recently started obsessing over the shipping of Draco and Hermione, something that I had loved but never really considered as fanfiction material until being reading through some of the user Team Damon's fanfiction on the subject. That got me to looking around this website for some more of the same opinion, and when I realized I wasn't crazy for loving it, I decided to get down to writing business. So, thanks to all Dramione shippers and writers on and off fanfiction. You guys rock!**

When Hermione Granger walked into potions with her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, she was already in a sour mood. Her Arithmancy exam hadn't gone as planned; she hadn't been able to concentrate, she had a major essay on the theory of the Patronus Charm due the next day, and she had a headache the size of all of the British Isles combined. Take into account the fact that Ron had been blabbering all day about his most recent Keeper exploits on the Quidditch pitch, using terms that she neither understood nor cared about, and she was a ticking time bomb on her final moments before explosion. She had tried so hard to keep her temper under wraps, but she didn't think that she would be able to handle it for much longer. Harry, at least, seemed to understand, and he had shifted Ron's focus of conversation to one with him, and for that she was grateful. She was just angry about going into her least favorite class of the day already in a foul mood.

Professor Slughorn was a nice enough man, but his demeanor sometimes got on Hermione's nerves, especially after a long day, as did his seeming inability to gage the mood of his class. Snape, at least, would pair Slytherins with Slytherins and Gryffindors likewise, but Slughorn seemed to be more interested in complete classroom unity on certain projects. Which, normally Hermione herself vouched for that cause, but when her Potions prospects were as undesirable as being gored by a unicorn, she tended not to support it in the class. So, knowing how her day had gone, it was with foreboding that she listened as Slughorn announced that their class would be starting a major Potions project, one that involved actually brewing a complex potion of their choice. Hermione was initially elated by the idea of choosing her own assignment, even more so when he announced that he would be giving away another bottle of Felix Felicis to whoever's potion was the most impressive, but she knew that there had to be a catch. And knowing how her day had gone, it would no doubt have something to do with the group of sniggering Slytherins seated across the room.

"Alright, class, the fun part about this is that I will allow you to pair up for this project. Or rather," Slughorn smiled broadly, as though offering the class a bottle of Butterbeer, "I will pair you up." The entire class groaned in exasperation, the Slytherins looking sneeringly down their noses at the Gryffindors. Hermione felt a surge of dislike as she saw Malfoy's pointed, pale face twist into a leer at Harry, who was seated beside her.

And so, Slughorn proceeded to place the class together. Harry and Ron were paired together, no doubt due to Slughorn's favoritism of the first. Hermione thought this savagely before chastising herself. It wasn't Harry's fault that he had picked a book with proper instructions from the book cabinet. She didn't condone his use of it, but to be honest, she almost envied his luck; he really didn't need the Felix Felicis he had won from Slughorn that first day of class. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as Slughorn maneuvered his sizeable belly through the room, watching as he strayed from his habits and, with the exception of a few, paired each member of a house with another of the same. She zoned out as he moved to the Slytherin side, not really paying attention. Beside her, Harry and Ron were debating which potion to brew, and although Ron hinted at her giving them suggestions, she pretended to be oblivious. After all, they had the best potions resource in the whole school, apparently, at their fingertips. She wasn't going to give them an advantage over her now, even though they _were_ her friends. The way her week was going, she seriously needed some liquid luck. She noticed suddenly that the room had gone silent, and she glanced around, wondering why everyone was suddenly staring at her.

"I'm sorry, sir. What was that?" She asked as respectfully as she could manage to Slughorn. He simply looked cheerful as he responded.

"I said, Miss Granger, that you and Mr. Malfoy will have to pair up, since we have an odd number of Slytherins and Gryffindors." The urge to protest, to scream and throw a fit, was overwhelming. Why the heck did she have to be with Malfoy of all people? Even Pansy Parkinson would have been preferable. But no, it had to be Malfoy. The strength of her own dislike of him shocked her, but she forced herself to plaster on a smile.

"Yes sir." She said in a sugary voice. Malfoy's smug look soured at her lack of visible reaction, and she chose to ignore the mutterings of her classmates as she stood, grabbed her books and cauldron, and sauntered over to where Malfoy was sitting. She didn't like moving over to the Slytherin side, and she felt like something of a traitor, but she felt that it was better for her to keep him away from Harry and Ron at all costs.

"Typical of him to pair me with a filthy little Mudblood." Malfoy muttered under his breath, obviously not caring whether or not she heard. Hermione clenched her jaw and stiffened at the titters of the students around her, but she didn't respond. And when the scraping of chairs began, when the other students began to set themselves up, she turned on him fiercely.

"Look, Malfoy, I don't like this any more than you do, but we're just going to have to deal with it. One thing I won't tolerate, though, is slurs on my lineage. It's not what defines me, despite what you seem to think." She spat at him hotly. Malfoy looked surprised by the vicious tone of her voice, but the expression was replaced by a familiar sneer within moments.

"Whatever. What potion will we be making?" His traditional arrogance colored his tone, and Hermione had to resist the urge to smack him across the face.

"Do you honestly expect me to do all the work? That's really very typical of you." Hermione snarled back.

"Well, you are the little bookworm aren't you, Granger? Always a responsible know-it-all…" He trailed off, smirking, and Hermione clenched her fist around her wand, knowing that her face was flushing with agitation now.

"Look, you little _ferret_. Unless you want me to hex you into oblivion or break your nose again, I suggest that you sit up and start helping me." Her voice was low, but it was harsh, even to her own ears. His silvery eyes widened at her ferocity, but the smirk disappeared and he sat forward. With a prickle of satisfaction, she whipped out her Potions book and flipped it open, trying not to acknowledge the almost appraising look that Malfoy's eyes contained now.

"Alright. Where do you want to start?" The lack of sarcasm in his voice had Hermione looking up in surprise, feeling slightly guilty as she noticed the bags under his eyes for the first time. He obviously hadn't been sleeping very well lately. She felt the sudden urge to apologize, but she ignored it. After all, this was Malfoy. He had bullied she and her friends all through school, and Harry even thought that he had been inducted into Voldemort's service as a Death Eater. He did _not_ deserve her remorse.

"I was thinking that we could experiment with the Draught of Living Death. We could even attempt Amortentia or Polyjuice Potion if we were feeling bold." Hermione volunteered cautiously, not quite meeting his eyes. For some reason, the mention of the love potion made her feel uncomfortable and self-conscious, and she remembered the scents that it had caused her to smell: freshly mown grass, new parchment, and something else. It was something that she hadn't quite been able to place. She shook her curls to clear the memory and turned to face Malfoy. There was no use dwelling on it now. Malfoy ceased his examination of her and shrugged quietly.

"I really haven't got a preference." He said, not sounding as apathetic as Hermione would have expected. She glanced around and noticed that the end of the period had just been signaled. She stood and gathered her belongings.

"Alright. Think about it, then, and we can both try to research some other options. If you find anything that you need to share before our next Potions lesson, you know how to find me." And as quickly as possible, she swept away to where Harry and Ron were waiting for you with a mixture of pity and surprise on their features. She waved off their questions, forcing herself not to turn and face the vibrant silver eyes she somehow knew followed her back until it was out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**** Hello, all! Thank you so much to everyone who's been interactive on this story! It really means a lot, although I would like to apologize in advance for the quality of this chapter; it's not the best I've written by any means. I'll be trying my best to get chapters out as soon as possible, but I just wanted to forewarn everyone; life is about to get **_**very**_** hectic. So please bear with me! Also, I would love it if some of you guys would review this or message me to let me know how I can improve this. I really want this story to be the best it can be! Thanks so much!**

"But seriously, Hermione. Draco Malfoy. _Draco Malfoy_. Of all the people Slughorn could have paired you with, you're stuck with that git." Ron ranted, a dribble of food running down the side of his mouth. Hermione resisted the urge to retch at his lack of table manners. They bothered her more than usual today, but that was probably due to the fact that Ron hadn't shut up about her new Potions partner all day. Hermione wasn't very happy about it either, but she wasn't going to waste her time complaining about something that couldn't be fixed.

"I'm well aware, Ron." Hermione said snappishly in response. He looked surprised, but he proceeded to stuff another bite of sausage into his mouth, until it looked as though his cheeks would explode. She looked away with an involuntary shudder, and Harry looked over at her in pity. She resisted the urge to snap at him too, knowing that she was just on edge. They sat in silence for a few minutes, aside from Ron's smacking mouth, before Harry spoke.

"I scheduled Quidditch practice for later today. Would you like to come watch?" He asked her. Hermione shrugged. Although she wasn't really interested in the sport, she had already finished her homework, and she didn't have anything better to do.

"I suppose." They finished their breakfast in the same awkward manner before simultaneously rising and walking out of the Great Hall. As they exited, Hermione spotted her beloved Potions partner coming down the stairs leading to the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. On either side of her, Hermione felt Harry and Ron stiffen, but Malfoy didn't greet them with the usual cold sneer. At least, it didn't seem as directed at her this time. That didn't stop Crabbe and Goyle from muttering stupidly about her blood status as they passed, but the fact that he didn't say a word was a small victory. She supposed after her threat against him in class, he didn't want to antagonize her, but that really hadn't stopped him before. She shrugged. It wasn't worth dwelling over.

She tried her best to be engaged in their conversation as they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch. She was glad that they told her Luna would be coming down to watch the practice, but she was less enthused when they told her that Cormac McLaggen had been watching every practice. She knew that he was obnoxious, but she wasn't exactly interested in dealing with his derogatory comments to her team and her friends. Especially not today, when she was already on edge.

"Hello, Hermione." Luna said in her usual breezy manner when she made her way up the stands. Hermione tried her best to put on an easy smile. She had never felt entirely comfortable with the Ravenclaw; their ideologies were just too different, but she had no reason to dislike her.

"Hello, Luna. How are you today?" Hermione asked pleasantly, wondering at the dangling radishes the other girl wore in her ear. Apparently they were supposed to repel Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Or whatever the heck the girl was chasing now. Whatever they were for, they were definitely interesting.

"I'm quite lovely, actually. Something seems to have gotten rid of a lot of the Nargles here, although there seem to be a few around Ron now." The blonde girl nodded to her ginger friend, who was watching them with an open-mouthed expression that Hermione could see from way up in the stands. She resisted the urge to laugh as Harry irritably snapped his fingers near Ron's ear to get his attention focused back on the pitch. She heard a bubbly giggle behind them and turned to see the heart-shaped face and sugary smile of Lavender Brown. She raised an eyebrow at the girl, but otherwise didn't recognize her.

"Well, that's good, then. How are your classes going?" Hermione asked politely, watching as the Gryffindors took to their brooms. Luna brushed a stray piece of blonde hair out of her face as the wind started to blow before answering.

"Very well. My Defense Against the Dark Arts class especially. I didn't think I'd be very fond of Professor Snape teaching it, but he's rather knowledgeable." She said, obviously enthused. Hermione smiled as she remembered their time together in Dumbledore's Army last year. She may not be very fond of Snape, but there was no denying that he knew his stuff, which was better than Umbridge's "theoretical practices" any day.

"He certainly knows the content." Hermione said in conversational agreement. Luna nodded with a breezy laugh before jumping to her feet and pointing towards the other end of the field.

"Oh, look. It looks like the Slytherins want to practice too." Her voice was more worried than usual, but it didn't lose its serene quality. Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she saw the swaggering group of green strutting onto the field.

"Uh oh. Maybe we should go down there and help." Hermione stood, only to have Luna grab her arm.

"Perhaps we should just let the teams handle this." Luna cautioned, but Hermione shook her head. A fight was the last thing that these two houses needed; it would only serve to cause trouble.

"No, I'm going to go down and try to disarm this before it gets started." Hermione said with a sigh, running down from the stands and onto the pitch as the Gryffindors began to land in front of the Slytherins. She could see that Ron's color was already up, and Harry looked agitated. At least Ginny seemed as though she was trying to calm them down.

"…Don't know what you're talking about, Malfoy. We had the pitch reserved for today." Harry was obviously trying to sound reasonable, but he was clearly agitated. Malfoy's pointed chin raised in arrogance as he began to protest, but his voice was so low that Hermione couldn't hear him. From the look of fighting spirit in Malfoy's silver eyes, though, it couldn't be an exchange of pleasantries. She ran over just in time to see Ron raise his wand.

"_Protego_!" She cried, brandishing her wand, as sparks flew from her friend's wand. Thankfully, they bounced off of her invisible shield and rebounded harmlessly away from both teams. The Slytherins turned to look at her in surprise, while Ron just looked sullen.

"Hermione, what—" Harry began, but she waved him off furiously.

"Ronald Weasley, what in Merlin's name is wrong with you?" She shouted angrily at him. Ginny rounded on her brother as well, while the rest of her team just looked surprised.

"My gosh, Ron, are you _trying_ to get yourself expelled?" Ginny asked her brother scathingly. Now, his ears turned red, but he still looked angry.

"They started it." Was his excuse. Hermione rounded exasperatedly on the Slytherins now, some of whom were looking smug. She glared at them fiercely before turning to Harry.

"What'd they say?" She demanded.

"Hermione…" He protested weakly. She shook out her bushy hair.

"What did they _say_?" She said again with more emphasis. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Nothing that serious, Hermione. We overreacted." Ginny stepped in for him. Hermione nodded and the two shared a look of exasperation.

"If you all are going to fight, make sure you have a legitimate reason first. Until then, I'm sure you guys can come to an arrangement of some sort." She turned and, as quickly as possible, left the group, thoroughly exasperated with them. Boys! They were so dense, with their stupid egos getting in the way of everything.

"You didn't have to yell at Ron, Hermione, he wasn't doing anything wrong." Lavender's agitated face loomed into Hermione's field of vision once she reached the bottom of the stands. Hermione took a deep breath, telling herself to keep her temper. Across the pitch, she saw that Ginny was orchestrating a way to split the pitch.

"You know what, Lavender, I don't have time for this. I wouldn't expect you to understand." In all honesty, Hermione realized as she stalked up the hill towards the castle, she didn't really understand it either. Her anger had been completely irrational, but she didn't want to deal with more today; her temper had already been on edge. She just couldn't believe that Ron had almost cursed the Slytherins with barely any instigation. Really, it hadn't been her fight, but she didn't want to see anything happen to any of her friends. And honestly, she didn't want them picking a fight with the Slytherins. If she was being honest, she also selfishly didn't want them to antagonize Malfoy again, not if she was going to be stuck with him as a class partner for the next God knew how long. She thought that Harry and Ron of all people would have understood that. But she was quickly learning that she should expect less and less from the latter especially as the year progressed. She only hoped that he wouldn't wreck their friendship in the process of whatever soul-searching and finding himself he was doing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note****: Hello, all! I apologize for how long it's taken for me to update this. Life has gotten really crazy for the past week, mostly involving my insane paternal family and excessive schoolwork, but now, thankfully, I should have time to write again. I'm actually rereading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the moment, so hopefully, that'll help me stay true to the characters. Anyway, here is, finally, the third chapter.**

Hermione walked through the door, flanking Harry on one side, with Ron on the other. She still hadn't entirely gotten over their actions against the Slytherins the previous day, but there was no point in dwelling on it. Besides, she didn't want to alienate her friends, not when they apparently needed help grounding themselves. And, she allowed grudgingly, not when they were going to be walking into a shared class with the Slytherins. Defense Against the Dark Arts was definitely educational, but Professor Snape's clear bias was extraordinarily annoying. But there was nothing that could be done about it now. They would just have to deal with his teaching methods.

The three walked into the classroom, with Harry telling Ron something that he had found in his new potions book, sounding as though he found it the most interesting thing in the world. Hermione resisted the urge to laugh; she never thought she'd see the day when Harry Potter would find a school book interesting. While she didn't exactly approve of the so-called "Half-Blood Prince" or his methods, she supposed that in his place, she would be tempted to do the same thing he was. He feel silent, however, as they stepped further into the classroom of Slytherins and Gryffindors, both parties of which were currently segregated and shooting each other dirty looks from across the room.

She spotted Malfoy looking at her with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity, and she raised an eyebrow at him. He looked back towards Pansy Parkinson, who was sharing his table and obviously fawning over him, and she had to repress a prickle of irritation herself. She was like a lovesick puppy, who couldn't bear to be more than two feet from him. It was pitiful, really. The room fell completely silent as the door slammed behind them.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger. Would it offend you so greatly to take a seat? Or do you three think yourselves competent of teaching the rest of the class?" The snide voice of Professor Snape asked from just behind them. Hermione jumped in surprise as she spun to face him. The professor's oily black hair lay in stringy strands, and his pallid face was currently fixed with an expression of intense dislike.

"Sorry, Professor. We were just going." She interjected quickly as Ron opened his mouth to make a retort. He looked at her with a sulking expression, his ears turning red, but she felt unapologetic. The last thing they needed was _more_ trouble.

"Clearly." Snape answered scathingly. Hermione shot Harry a look this time as he looked as though he were about to respond. At her glare, he just nodded, and the three turned to make their way to a table occupied by Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. As they went, Pansy let out a simpering laugh that made the hair on the back of Hermione's neck stand up.

"Today, we will be continuing our work on nonverbal spells, which a disappointing few of you have been able to master." Snape shot a snide look in Neville Longbottom's direction. Hermione felt herself begin to grow indignant on Neville's behalf, but she kept her silence. "But since choosing your own partners has proven to be… ineffective, today you'll be pairing with a student from the opposite house. Perhaps that will serve as incentive to keep you from going easy on each other." Hermione's jaw dropped open slightly at his subtle accusation, and she saw that her house's dissatisfaction was mirrored by the Slytherins. Pansy Parkinson looked positively mutinous, while Blaise Zabini's look of dissatisfaction made him look constipated.

"But sir—" Seamus protested before being cut off with a menacing glance from Snape's beady, black eyes.

"That wasn't a request, Finnegan. Perhaps if you could manage a simple spell without burning off your own eyebrows, this wouldn't be necessary." Seamus snapped his mouth shut, flushing violently as he remembered his mishap from the previous lesson. The Slytherins snickered, and despite herself, Hermione had to resist the urge to chuckle at the memory. She reminded herself that his face could have been horribly burned, and that sobered her quickly.

"Well, what are you all waiting for? Pair up." Snape snapped before sweeping over to his desk, where he could keep a close watch on them. The Slytherins looked at him, still clearly dumbfounded at the seeming betrayal of their head of house, but the Gryffindors rose to their feet, although not without grumblings. After exchanging an irritated look with Harry and Ron, Hermione followed suit.

The two houses seemed unsure of what exactly to do. None of either house were exactly friendly with the others, and neither particularly wanted to be. Hermione stepped more to the forefront of the line, rather unsure of what to do. She debated about just snagging Pansy, simply to stop the continued gurgle of shrill laughter coming from her, but before she could take a step toward the girl, who had somehow lost her octopus-like hold on Malfoy, that very Slytherin appeared at her shoulder.

"Fancy partnering up?" His voice was low, as though he himself was embarrassed by approaching her, but his clever grey eyes seemed sincere enough. Hermione narrowed her own brown eyes suspiciously for a moment before shrugging, both surprised and impressed by the lack of slur on her blood status, especially after her outburst the day before.

"I suppose." She settled for replying, following him away from the crowd of Gryffindors, who she felt watching her with shock. She heard Ron mutter something unintelligible, but she didn't turn around. After receiving their instructions from Snape, who lifted an eyebrow at their agreed partnership, the two retreated to a far corner of the room, avoiding the continued stares of their classmates, who had begun to partner up now. It was decided that Malfoy would attempt to disarm her, while she tried to nonverbally shield herself from it, and they took their marks to begin.

"So, have you thought about our Potions project?" Hermione asked, after they took their stances. Malfoy looked at her, as though mildly surprised that she was attempting to make conversation, but his response wasn't at all rude.

"Actually, I was just about to ask you the same thing." He flicked his wand at her without muttering an incantation, and, without moving, Hermione silently repelled his spell. She'd been practicing on her own when she had time, and it looked like her practice was finally paying off. Malfoy raised his eyebrows at her, apparently surprised, but he didn't comment.

"I've researched a bit, and I've found a few options, but I wanted to see if you had any specific preferences." She answered with a shrug. In all honesty, she _had_ researched, but she wanted the reassurance that she wouldn't be hung out to dry on this project. She knew that he had enough brains to come up with something; even Snape, with his favoritism, wouldn't give out high grades without some sort of promise being shown, but she didn't want to be left doing the bulk of their work.

"Well, I looked into some. I was thinking that we might try a Draught of Peace or Dreamless Sleep Potion?" Malfoy seemed almost nervous about sharing these, for reasons that Hermione couldn't fathom. She considered each carefully as she wordlessly deflected a stunning spell that he shot at her.

"I was almost thinking that we might brew some Felix Felicis, but I suppose that since we're already given the opportunity to get some, it'd be rather pointless. I do think that the Draught of Peace could be a good option, though. Of course, Snape did talk about it last year, so it might be a bit simple." She considered as they switched roles. Hermione sent a disarming spell at Malfoy, and his wand soared to her hand. He looked only mildly irritated as she tossed it back to him. He caught it easily, probably a result of his experience as a Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch Team and took his place again.

"Felix Felicis could be interesting to brew." He answered casually, obviously determined not to let their conversation catch him off guard. Hermione sent a stunner his direction this time, since he had his concentration this time. Apparently unaware that she had just sent out the spell, he looked up, opening his mouth as though to say something, before the red beam of life hit him in the chest. His eyes widened in surprise as he toppled over, and Hermione cursed herself. He was finally treating her like a normal person, for whatever reason, and now she had gone and ruined it. Snape swept away from his desk, following the surprised glances with agitation etched on his face. Hermione quickly hurried over to him, pulling her wand into a better position for spell-casting.

"_Rennervate_." She muttered under her breath, pointing her wand at Malfoy, still angry with herself. Coming to his sense quickly, he scrambled to his feet, brushing a strand of white-blonde hair out of his face, which expressed his clear embarrassment. "Sorry! I didn't mean

to—" She began hastily. He waved her off, clearly frustrated.

"Should've paid more attention you filthy little—" He stopped short at her stricken expression. Hermione narrowed her eyes, daring him to finish as she raised her wand again in warning. He eyed it cautiously and raised his hands in an expression of surrender. "Forget it. I wasn't paying attention." He muttered grudgingly. She lowered her wand and stepped away, but inwardly, she was seething. Clearly, it was only the threat of her magic that was keeping him in line. She cursed herself again at her stupidity as the class ended and she stormed away to gather her books. And she had almost believed that he might see her as a normal witch, despite her blood status. She sniffed haughtily at the thought of his discriminatory attitude. Some people never changed, no matter how much you tried to treat them civilly.


End file.
